Toy electric locomotive



8- 5, 1950 c. o. APPLEGATE 2,518,853

TOY ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE Filed April 23, 1946 Lharles OAppIegaie INVEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 15,1950

; OFFICE A V V TOY ELEGT'RICILOCOMOTIVE i fCharles o. }ippi e, United States Army p l cationnpi-irgsg ie isg,schema. 664,161

, This invention relates'to model or toy-locomotives "of the type driven by electrical power deliv ered to the motor of such locomotive through the f rails upon which it runs. I

It is an object of my invention to provide means for greatly increasingthe tractive effort which the locomotive can exert uponits load,--or coni versely increasing the acceleration of the 1000- motive and/or cars for a given amount-of power consumed. It is a further object of myinvention to provide such a means which'will operate 5 without in any way interfering with the delivery" of electric power to the locomotive. Ancillary objects of my invention are to accomplish the above results at very low cost, and by means:

electric locomotive to which my invention is applicable, I c

Fig. 2 is an enlargedelevation of one of the wheels of the locomotive of Figs-l, with one form of a device according to my invention applied thereto, 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken" on the elinej 3 30fFjg 2 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.3, but of a modified form of my invention, I 3* .Fig. 5 is an elevational viewof a wheel equipped with a current conducting rim useful in connection with my invention, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, numeral Ill designates generally a typical toy or model electric locomotive, provided with driving wheels i2 and I4 adapted to run upon one rail l6 of a track. It will be understood that the wheels i2 and M are duplicated upon the other side of the locomotive, and that such other wheels run upon a second rail l8 of the track, there being a third rail 29 intermediate rails I6 and I8, and adapted to act as one side of an electric circuit supplying current to the motor of locomotive H], by means of the usual collector shoe (not shown). The return circuit is through the frame of the locomotive, wheels l2 and I4, and rail IS, a parallel return circuit usually existing through the wheels opposite to wheels l2 and i4, and rail i8, as is well known.

It is a commonly observed fact that locomotives of the type described above are very subjectv to loss of ac'celerative ability due to the slipping of the driving'wheels, such as wheels l2 and [4, upon the] rails of thetrack. This'is'usually noticedwhen full power is thrown onto the locomotive when it is at a standstill, or when the 10- comotiveis being used to pull a heavy load, such as a long train of cars, uphill or on an oily track. While increasing the mass of the locomotive, as by weighting, would reduce the slippage on heavy pulls, such increase in mass concomitantly reduces the rate of the acceleration which can be achieved, "besides almostalways requiring additions to the locomotive profile which upset the lifelike appearance which such devices are'in tended to possess.

I have found that the desired increase in tractive effect of such locomotives can be obtained by taking steps to increase the coefficient of frictionbetween certain of the driving wheels and 1 the rails ofthe track. To this end, I apply to one (or at any, rate, less than all) of the pairs of driving wheel's a .band or tire of a suitable material which has a, much higher coefiicient of I friction, relative to the track, than does the metal of which the wheels are normally. made." In Figs.

groove 24, so that it must be stretched around the wheel. The tension in tire 30 resulting from such stretching produces a firm grip upon wheel [2, and insures that there will be no slippage of the tire in the groove 24, besides preventing the tire from working its way off the wheel during use.

It will have been noted from Fig. 1 that a tire 30 is applied to wheel [2 but not to wheel M of locomotive [0, the reason for this being that all the suitable materials for tire 39, such as soft rubber, Vinylite, synthetic rubber and the like, are good electrical insulators, and the use of such tires on all the wheels of the locomotive would effectively insulate the same from rails I6 and l 8 of the track. By using the tires only upon less than all of the wheels, for example wheel I2 and its mate at the opposite end of the axle, I obtain the desired increase in friction without interfering with the operation of the locomotive. Where the locomotive incorporates more than four wheels, I can, of course, apply the frictional 3 tires to more of the driving wheels while still maintaining the desired electrical contact.

In Fig. 4, I have illustrated a slightly modified form of my invention, the tire 30 comprising a portion 3 I, conically annular in shape, to fit about 5 the wheel, and an integral lip 32 adapted to pass over and around the edge of the flange of the wheel. The tire may obviously be readily applied to any desired wheels without the use of any tools, mei'iel'y byslippirig-lip 32 ovei'itl' 'eflang'e, the, tire being sufli'ciently stretchable to enable this-to be done by the fingers. Since this form of the invention requires no special groove in the wheel; it is particularly applicable to existing. looping; tives.

I preferably form my novel time by mold-ingrin. one piece, but they may obviously bemadeb iqt er methods, for example by connectingtogether narrow strips of the material. Therefore, I do; not wish to be restricted to any particular method of, fabricationof, the-devices.

Thefdevicefshown in Rig, 4 accomplishegthg, desire ,ijesi'iltsyer-y well when applied to nibtivedn which, less'thanall, oi the wheels are w avery. i q i r Qt p tat- However, itislquite co rfi'mon'fonfourrwhqledtoy locomotiyes tohave all the four-wheels no 't' driven, "In such a case, those wheels, pro ded with the tires. 39,, are [effectively ofjlaigg' e diameter, thanthe wheels ,whichido nothave. I reslgiel sulting in, undesirable'slipp'in'g or. the, at and, consequently wearand w,aste,of.;powerl InEigsQBQand 6 I, have shown means for Over; oming, he, bcvefdisa an aeaf mprising, "a, metallic auxiliary tire 40, which fits around tii'ese driven wheels, such as H of Fig. l whicl lareliiot' provided, with h friction tires. 30 5.; "The Body thicknessof metallic tires 4111s such as to equal ize- 'thef'eflective diameters of the, driven wheel's, r h tmat i dier. hee s 'r'tnei comici-l 40 tive'; Tire 40- may be'fprovided' with integral. bendable lugsfor tabs suchas 4L2, adaptedfto be bent'over-theflange of wheel- I 4; to securefthe tire thereon, "although such tabs may -alterna tivel beprovided'soas toengage under the rim oi-s'poked wlieelsif desired.

The combination'of apair of friction tires 30 and one or more pairs of metallic, "conducting tires wenables an existingtoy or'model locomotive to be provided with'the advantages of my v l d invention without any actual structural changesbeingmade, andat a verylow cost. In the-caseoI-a' new. locomotive, it is ofcourse more coo 4i nomical to utilize the form of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the tires 30 being incorporated as a production matter, and the necessary equality of wheel diameters being designed into the equipment.

Having pointed out my invention in accordance with the statutes, and the preferred manner of its employment, I desire it to be understood that the above description is e gerr plary only, and that I,',do;inot; intend to be restricted to the particular detailsof construction and application disclosed herein, except as required by the scope of the appended claim.

t cl m;

Ina toy electric locomotive having a plurality of fiang'ed driving wheels adapted to drive said locomotive alonga. track and to make electrical contact with said track, the combination with certainof said wheels of a plurality of tires respectively carried thereby and each composed of asinglmpiece of aresilient, rubber-like material having. a; hi h, coefficient of friction with referematmmetal. each; of said tires being in. the form of a narrow frustumqta' thin-walledright c nciwithiintegralilipmeansextending from. one edge:. of said: frustum. anda curved back upon itself,- toengage resilientlyover the. flange of a. driving wheel, and: arsecond pluralityv of tires eachcomposed. of a; single piece. of metallic. material; each of the, last-named; tires being. also inxthaform: ofisa; narrow-frustum of atliin-walled,

coneaprovided: with integral; extensions passing about thefianged; portion; of a. respective one of. the, remaining driving: wheels, the radial thicknessmf; allioflsaid tires being substantially equal.

CHARLES C; APPLEGATE.

REFERENCES CITED The-following references areof record in the file of' 'thispatentr 1mm SMUF E EN Number Name; Date Re. 16,351 Caruso May 18, 1926' 492,907, Libbey: Mar. 7, 1893 537,497; Teeter; Apr. 16, 1895' 569,683 'lleetor' Oct. 20, 1896 1,376,742 Burnett May 3, 1 921 1,802,458 Garnso Apr. 28, 1 31 1,969,919 Allman Aug. 1'4, 1934 2,Q1fi;828' Brownyer. Oct. 8, 1935 2,267,629 Van Over Dec. 23, 1941 2,33;9,7}7; Sembdner- Jan. 11, 1944 

